Hindsight
by mebfeath
Summary: Hindsight is always 20/20, they say, and life doesn't always go according to plan. / Mostly fluff, but I had fun writing it.
1. Chapter 1

In hindsight, it had been really quite obvious. But hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

* * *

Mackenzie tilted her head slightly as she surveyed her body in the mirror.

Yup, definitely bigger.

'Hmmm,' her husband mumbled as he walked past, sliding his hand around her waist as he reached up for his jacket – and stopped, his hand still touching her side. He stood at an angle behind her, observing her in the mirror.

'Do we see a problem?' he asked, mimicking her by tilting his head to the side a little.

'Have I put on weight?' she asked, a tone of incredulity in her voice. Will just blinked.

'Seriously? You expect me to answer that?' he asked, and she frowned.

'I think I have,' she said, the incredulity increasing.

'Mac, the first time you ate or slept in months was two weeks ago and that's only because you were stuck in a hut with me on a small island and had little else to do. You haven't put on weight.' He turned and walked away. She watched him go, her eyes on his back.

He'd certainly lost weight. They all had. At least she thought they _all_ had. Maggie had lost so much weight from stress and lack of sleep that she looked practically skeletal and Rebecca threatened to put an IV in Maggie herself if she didn't stop. At that point Mac had instituted a mandatory lunch break; everyone was to meet in the conference room at 2:30pm and they had to bring at least a semi-decent lunch.

When they'd all asked what a semi-decent lunch looked like, she'd been stumped, and Will had jumped in, trying to be helpful, saying that it had to at least have something green in it. Mac had then said it had to at least have some carbs, and Will had said protein. Jim had asked if they were required to prove it was from a restaurant that had at least one Michelin star at that point, and Mac had swatted him over the head with her folder in reply.

It had proven a good idea for more reasons than one; not only did they eat at least one decent meal a day, but it also gave them an opportunity to just _relax_ for fifteen minutes – something they all desperately needed. It was time to chat about nothing, get to know each other a little better, and generally stop thinking about the news or the courtroom appearances most of them were making or the general sense of dread and foreboding that seemed to have overtaken the newsroom like a fog.

But then one day Charlie had burst in saying that they'd won. They'd _won_. That Dantana had obviously admitted to doctoring the tape, and that the Judge had decided that whilst it was in part an institutional failure – and had recommended some disciplinary action among other things – a considerable portion of the blame for that failure lay at Jerry Dantana's feet as senior producer, and on top of his colossal mistake, his suit for wrongful termination was dismissed.

The whole office had paused for a second before exploding. People screamed and jumped for joy; champagne corks were heard very, very shortly after. Will and Mackenzie had just hugged, both unable to control the tears of joy and relief that filled their eyes. Charlie had soon joined them, as had Maggie and Jim and eventually everyone else.

The news was prepared at the very last minute that night, and if anyone had taken his blood-alcohol reading prior to taking the chair, they would have found Mr McAvoy was a little over the legal driving limit.

But he didn't care. His wife was smiling freely again, and that in itself was reward enough for him.

He didn't really think it was reward enough for her though; he'd organised a week on a small tropical island for both of them, leaving three days later, where he ensure that both he and Mackenzie ate well, slept well, and got some serious Vitamin D.

And yet, here she stood, in front of the mirror, and _her bra didn't fit._

Well, it did _technically_ fit, but she wouldn't be doing any backflips today. Or running. Or bending over.

She frowned.

'My boobs are bigger,' she said, raising her voice so he could hear her in the bathroom. He walked out of the bathroom and studied her chest.

'Hmm. Maybe. I don't mind,' he said, smirking.

'Oh, shut it, you,' she said, before grabbing her blouse and skirt.

* * *

'The death toll for the earthquake in Pakistan is now over 200.'

'Ok, putting it on the board. Next.'

'The hostage situation in Nairobi still has no definitive number of hostages, and several sources are reporting that an employee of the mall helped the terrorist move belt-fed machine guns into the mall a couple of days before.'

'Ok. Next.'

'Obama's change in foreign policy is definitely something we should talk about,' stated Neal.

'You want to talk about Obama's change in foreign policy?' Mac said, incredulously. 'What's the angle?'

'Well, most social media in Iran is banned, but there was a brief window in Iran two days ago. For two hours, we saw a flood of tweets out of Iran, and then nothing. The official statement is that it was a technical glitch, but I think they were hacked.'

Mac raised an eyebrow. 'By whom?'

'I have two sources who are stating they managed to bring down the firewall.'

'What is the more plausible theory?' she threw out to the table.

'That the new president was testing Iran's ability to control social media without the firewall,' Tess offered.

'Right. We'll go with that, but we'll talk about Iran's thawing relationship with the US.'

Neal looked disappointed, but resigned to his all-too-common fate. 'I'm sorry, Neal, but we need more proof than just two teenage boys on holidays with very fast computers.'

The meeting eventually ended, the team having secured their five stories for the night. Mac packed up and headed for her office when she felt a warm hand on the small of her back.

'You're right,' Will said quietly as she stopped outside her door.

'Right about what?'

'Your boobs are bigger,' he whispered, smirking.

'You were staring-' she stopped, and he pushed her office door open for her. 'You were staring at my chest for the whole meeting?' she asked.

'Not the whole meeting. Just some. Ok, quite a bit. But you had it under control,' he said, waving his hand dismissively.

She sunk into the chair, feeling her skirt tighten around her hips and stomach – more than it usually did. She sighed, frowning.

'I continue to maintain that you're still the most attractive woman I've seen in real life, and your chest size increasing very slightly _certainly_ isn't going to hurt that assessment,' he said quietly, leaning across her desk to kiss her. She smiled half-heartedly as he turned to leave.

'This means you're going to need to buy more, right?' he said, turning back to face her.

'Oh, probably,' she muttered, turning to her computer.

'Excellent,' he muttered back, clearly pleased with himself, before leaving her office. She smiled, shaking her head at him.

* * *

_Another one. I know I haven't finished the first, but this one practically wrote itself yesterday. And I know exactly where this is going, which is always a nice bonus._

_As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 2

'Come in,' she mumbled through a full mouth.

'Hey,' Jim said, before stopping. 'Did we stop the mandatory lunch break?' he asked, waving at her desk.

She looked around. On one corner she had a couple of pieces of fruit, and in her open desk draw a half-finished bag of mixed nuts and seeds was clearly visible. A coffee sat in its usual place next to her monitor and she had an empty muesli bar wrapper in front of her.

'Nope. I'm going to keep it,' she declared, wiping her hands on a tissue. 'I think it's good for staff morale.'

'I agree,' he said slowly, deciding against pursuing a conversation about food consumption with a woman in her late thirties, even though that woman was the same Mackenzie McHale he'd spent three months dodging bullets and knives – or not dodging, as the case had been – in Afghanistan.

'I got those numbers on Pakistan, but they're not yet confirmed. Do you want them on the graphic anyway?'

She took the paperwork from Jim's hands, scanning the content.

'Yeah, do it for now, but let them know we'll probably have an update close to airtime,' she replied, grabbing the apple and taking a bite, much to Jim's surprise.

'Are you feeling ok?' he asked, studying her carefully. He had never known her to eat so much whilst working, unless they were really pressed for time and fighting the clock. Which, at eleven o'clock in the morning, they clearly weren't. She'd regularly brought her own lunch to the lunch break, noting that she had to at least set a decent example, so to see her consuming what appeared to be quite a bit of food during the day…well, he was confused.

'Yeah, fine. Why?' she asked.

'Nothing, nothing at all; you just look a little tired still,' he lied. 'Holiday good?'

'Yeah, great. You should take one soon, Jim. You need it,' she said, pulling her glasses off and taking another bite of her apple.

Jim snorted. 'Yeah, maybe.'

'No, seriously! When was the last time you had a holiday?' she asked, leaning back in her chair.

'Uh…college?' he said, frowning as he thought back. 'Yup, college.'

'See? There you go. You need one. All work and no play makes Jim a dull boy,' she said in a sing-song voice, and Jim smiled.

'I'll consider it,' he said, taking back the paperwork and turning to leave.

He pushed the door half-open and stopped. 'You look good, Mac. Happy,' he said smiling a little.

She smiled back. 'Aw, thanks, Jim.' She stopped, her smile freezing on her face. 'What do you mean, happy?' she asked narrowing her eyes slightly.

'Uh…happy?' he said, frowning in confusion. 'You know, since you and Will, and everything…' he trailed off. 'You know, happy.'

She stood. 'Happy as in fat? Do I look fatter to you?' she asked, standing.

Jim's eyes widened and he glanced out the door, desperate for an escape. 'No! Not at all! You look very slim and thin and normal,' he stuttered out, glancing back out the door for anyone. Anything.

'Normal? What is normal?' she asked, her voice taking on a slightly hysterical tone.

'Mac, please,' he begged. 'I only meant you smile more…and you have a bit of a tan. And you look heal-' He caught himself just in time '-happy.'

He took her split-second silence as permission to flee for his life. Mac flopped down in her chair and took a bite out of her apple.

* * *

It started in early October, just after Charlie's announcement.

She raced out of the run down meeting and straight to the bathroom, where she emptied the contents of her stomach into one of the toilet bowls.

When she'd emerged, Will was standing by the door.

'You ok?' he asked, clearly concerned.

'Yeah, fine,' she said, rubbing her eyes. 'I think it must have been something I ate.'

Will frowned. 'We ate the same thing for breakfast.'

'Did we? Oh well. I'm fine. I feel much better now,' she said, shaking her head.

'If you say so,' he said, his expression making it clear that he didn't believe a word, but he followed her back into the meeting without further comment.

When it happened again the next morning – fortunately before the meeting started this time – she resolved to change her breakfast.

That seemed to settle it for a few days; she felt slightly queasy, but no real need to throw up, so she began to forget about it.

Until several days later, when the urge to throw up woke her up.

'What? Mackenzie?' Will called after her, his voice still gravelly from sleep.

When she'd finished emptying her stomach into the bowl, she rinsed her mouth out with Listerine and climbed back into bed.

'That's the second time you've done that in a week. Are you sure you're ok?'

'No, I feel terrible,' she muttered, curling herself into a little ball around her husband. He put a hand on her forehead.

'You do feel a little warm,' he muttered.

'What, are you a doctor now?' she mumbled.

'I think you should stay home,' he said tentatively.

'Right. And who's going to be your EP for the night?'

'I'm sure Jim would love another run at it. He is capable and Don said he did an excellent job while we were away.'

'I'm fine, I just need a little more sleep,' she mumbled, her eyes closed.

And so she'd surrendered with very little fight – which in itself was enough of a reason for Will - stayed home and in bed for most of the day, alternating between eating and sleeping.

* * *

_Well, if you haven't figured it out yet..._

_Any and all feedback is very much appreciated. Thanks to everyone who has sent feedback so far!_


	3. Chapter 3

'Right, I quit,' she declared, flopping down on the bed. Will turned from where he was standing in the hall.

'What's wrong?'

'This happily-married thing is making me fat, William McAvoy.'

'So you're going to give up on the whole marriage thing, Mackenzie McAvoy?' he asked, pulling her up from the bed and wrapping his hands around her waist. She felt a little stir in her stomach when he said her name. She had kept McHale for work and professionally – it was easier that way – but she'd changed it to McAvoy for her personal life. And she loved it. She loved being _Mrs McAvoy_. But even that couldn't shake her mood.

'There is a distinct correlation between my dress size and my relationship with you. Before we were married, my clothes fit. Now they don't!' she said, almost stomping her foot in frustration. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head a little, surprised at her little tantrum.

'You know, I think I'm going to have to share out a bit of the blame here,' he said, standing up straight and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. 'I'm fairly sure it might have something to do with the fact that you now no longer have a career-ending lawsuit hanging over your head, and you're not trying to deal with that and do your job. And keep everyone together in the newsroom.'

'Humph,' she replied, his argument doing little to distract her from her current problem.

'Mac, you were unhealthily thin for a while there. That was why we started the compulsory lunch meetings, remember?'

She frowned, knowing he was right, but unwilling to let go of her crankiness. 'It was for the staff.'

'And you.'

'And you!' she shot back. 'You're not exactly a walking advertisement for health and wellbeing yourself!' she said. He just raised an eyebrow at her.

'Relax. I'll take you shopping on the weekend,' he said, kissing her hair. She sighed, but her frown lessened slightly. Shopping with Will, if he was in a good mood, could be fun.

* * *

Mackenzie sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. The bags under her eyes were impressive. She was sleeping better than she had in a long, long time – courtesy of the man she now shared an apartment and a bed with – and she was eating well, too. The vomiting had stopped, much to her relief; she just felt nauseous most of the time. She just couldn't shake this exhaustion. She knew it was a time thing – they'd had a rough eighteen months, and they were only just out the other side of it. She knew she was going to crash eventually, which was why she'd been more than happy to take off with Will – besides other _reasons_ – and why she had tried to relax on her holiday.

But she still felt tired. And cranky. And _sore_. (Officially the worst thing about putting on weight, she'd decided. _Sore_.) She'd already bitten off Maggie and Jim's heads that morning, and Neal hadn't been far behind. She knew she was being unfair, but they were just so…well, themselves, she knew.

The headaches weren't helping either. Neither were the cramps.

Her period hadn't been regular since Afghanistan. She couldn't take the pill while she was there – it was too hard, being constantly on the move, but she'd switched back to the pill once she'd returned to western civilisation, which had brought about a level of normalcy, but occasionally she would skip a period altogether, which she'd been told was also normal for someone in her situation.

She rubbed her stomach; another sore area to add to the list.

Maybe she was just falling apart, she reasoned. Now would be a good time.

* * *

'The numbers from Pakistan,' Jim said as he handed them to Mac. She looked down at the paper and blinked; her eyes were fuzzier than usual, and her head was pounding. They only had three minutes until the end of the broadcast – one of those minutes was commercial – and then she'd go and take some panadol. And eat something.

'Shit,' she muttered.

'What's wrong?' Jim asked, frowning.

'There's a mistake on the update graphic. Can you pull the graphic up please?' she asked one of the guys, studying it. 'There,' she said, pointing to the number of dead. 'That's wrong. It's 249, not 349,' she said, watching as they adjusted it quickly.

'Will, the Pakistan numbers are wrong. It's 249 dead, not 349.'

'Copy, cranky pants,' he said, changing his notes.

She glared at the over-sized head of her husband on the monitor in front of her.

'I'll give you cranky pants,' she muttered, and she watched as the barest of smiles appeared on his face.

She turned to Jim, but the world didn't stop when she did. 'Oh,' she said, reaching out for something – anything – to steady herself, but finding nothing.

'Ohhh,' she murmured, as she felt her knees buckle, and the world went black.

* * *

_Any and all feedback is definitely much appreciated. :) _

_Told you it was simple fluff. I don't normally like baby!fic, but I couldn't help myself. _


	4. Chapter 4

'Mac? Mac! Come on, answer me.' It took a second for her to register that the voice talking to her wasn't the tinny voice of Will McAvoy through a headset. It was Don.

'Mac. Come on. Wake up. That's it. Open your eyes,' he was saying. She forced her eyes open.

'What happened?' she muttered groggily. 'Why am I on the floor?'

'You fainted.'

'I fainted?' she cried, but it came out more of a high-pitched croak.

'Yup. Scared the shit out Jim and I and everyone else in the control room, so thanks for that. I don't need my annual cardio check-up – my heart is clearly working just fine,' he replied, a smirk on his face.

She rubbed her hand on her face. 'Why did I faint?'

Don raised his eyebrows. 'I don't know. Have you eaten?'

'Yeah…' she thought back. 'I had lunch.'

'Water?'

'Yeah.'

'Then I got nothing. And when Will is off the air, he's going to take you to the hospital so you can ask someone with a medical degree that exact question.'

Mac's hands flew to her head; the headset was gone. 'Will!' she cried, trying to get up, but Don grabbed her shoulder.

'He's fine; Jim's running him through the final minutes. It's all under control,' he said, deciding against holding her down – Don chose his battles carefully – and helped her sit up against the wall. The glass felt cool against her skin.

Don crouched in front of her. 'You don't look great,' he said, studying her face before handing her a bottle of water.

'Thanks.'

'Here to help.'

She looked up at the monitors where will was wrapping up the show. The lights were bright, and she still felt a little dizzy. And confused. Vomiting, now fainting?

'How long was I out?'

'Fifteen seconds; maybe twenty. I was walking past and saw you go down. Jim just managed to catch you before you took your head out on the corner of the panel there,' he said, pointing to the sharp-looking corner of one of the control bays. She grimaced; that would have been nasty.

She watched as Will delivered the final line of his broadcast, and the graphics went up.

'Wait for it…three seconds,' Don said quietly. Exactly three seconds later they could hear the heavy thudding of someone jogging up the corridor.

'What happened? Are you ok?' Will crouched down in front of her, studying her face much the same way Don had a few moments earlier.

'I'm fine, I just fainted,' she said, waving him off.

'You scared the shit out of me, Mac,' he said, putting his hand on her forehead. 'One minute you're talking in my ear and the next all I hear is crashing and then Jim telling me you'd fainted. You feel hot.'

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you,' she said. 'I hear you have Jim to thank, anyway. Apparently he caught me before I added an extra hole to my skull,' she said, pointing up at the young producer who was now hovering worriedly behind them.

'You seriously scared the shit out of me too,' he said, his voice quiet.

'I'm sorry. I really am,' she said helplessly from the floor. 'I don't know what happened. I was reading the numbers and then I turned around and I don't remember a whole lot more after that,' she said, trailing off. 'I'm not going to hospital,' she said, pointing at Will.

Will frowned. 'Oh, really?' he said, grabbing her hand. 'Do you think you can get up?'

'Yup,' she replied, slowly pushing herself off the floor, with Will and Don's help. She swayed a few times on the way up, which did nothing for her not-going-to-hospital case.

'I'm fine. I just want to sleep,' she said. She saw Don and Will share looks.

'You can sleep in the car on the way to the hospital,' Will said, and she groaned.

* * *

'If I promise to sleep can we just go home?' she begged as Will followed her into the car. 'Please? I think I just forgot to eat,' she said, trying to remember what she had for lunch.

'Half the staff saw you eat lunch,' Will said. '_I_ saw you eat lunch. And half a bag of almonds.'

'And an apple,' she said, frowning. 'I didn't drink much water, though. And I'm so tired,' she said, covering a yawn. 'Please, Billy. You can take me to the doctor if I still feel bad tomorrow,' she said, employing every weapon in her begging-Will-for-something arsenal.

He eyed her, before frowning. 'Fine. But you're taking tomorrow off, I don't care how you feel,' he said sternly, and she grinned.

* * *

She rolled over and looked at the clock.

Midday.

She shot up in bed. She'd slept till _midday_. She had slept for almost _fourteen hours straight_.

She vaguely recalled kissing Will goodbye, but other than that, she'd slept soundly.

She grabbed her blackberry; she had a few missed calls, all from Will, and various get-well-soon texts from the staff. She quickly called Will back to let him know she was alive and that she'd slept for almost _fourteen hours_ and what on earth was going on? But he'd just chuckled and said she obviously needed it and to sleep more if she wanted to because as much as he liked Jim Harper – even more after yesterday's knight-in-shining-armour act – he much preferred her voice in his ear, and she had until Monday now to rectify that situation. She'd just laughed at him.

After she hung up, she fell back on the bed, covering her face with Will's pillow. She felt considerably better than yesterday, but she still didn't feel great.

Maybe it was a virus, she reasoned. Vomiting, nausea, fainting all fitted the criteria.

But the weight gain? That didn't make sense. And neither did the fact that she constantly felt hungry. Normally she would go for seven or eight hours without eating and be fine; now she would find her hands straying towards the packet of nuts she kept in her drawer more often than not. She'd had to replace it twice this week already.

Maybe that's why she had the cramps; she was eating too much. She needed to drink more water.

Or it could all be because she was absolutely, completely, totally exhausted.

She was starving; she rubbed her stomach and stopped. She gently poked her abdomen, just below her navel.

It didn't bounce back. It didn't bounce at all.

She poked harder, but nothing moved.

And a truly terrifying thought crossed her mind.

* * *

_Thanks for all the feedback so far! All feedback is very much appreciated. _


	5. Chapter 5

She knew the answer already, but she needed to _know_. She needed that little piece of plastic to tell her if her life was going to potentially going to completely upended, or if she was just insane.

She knew she wasn't insane.

If the situation hadn't been so horrifying to her, she would have laughed. She was waiting on a little piece of white plastic to change her life.

She leant against the bathroom wall, her eyes closed. If she opened them, she would see the little piece of plastic. And then she would have to deal it. If she didn't open her eyes, she could just deny reality for a few more seconds…

She opened her eyes and quickly grabbed the test, before flinging it into the sink.

All the curse words in the world weren't enough for her in that moment.

* * *

Her mind was blank. She didn't even know how to think, let alone what to think. At some point her legs had given up and she'd slid down the wall to the floor. She lay curled up on the cool, hard tiles, completely and utterly empty.

* * *

She felt tears spring into her eyes the second she heard the door handle turn.

She'd spent the afternoon trying to remember how to think, how to process information, and she'd been vastly unsuccessful.

At eight o'clock she'd turned the TV on to watch News Night. She'd hoped that at least the face of her husband on the television would help – she certainly wasn't _ringing_ him right now – but it had only served to push her to tears. She'd spent most of the broadcast crying in some way and she'd just managed to sort herself out a little and now he was home and she was falling apart again.

He padded into the house quietly, obviously thinking she was still asleep, when he turned and saw her on the couch.

'Hey,' he said quietly, walking over to where she was seated. He paused for a second when he saw the silent tears streaming down her face. 'Mac, what's wrong?' he asked, his voice filled with a mixture of concern and dread. She just stared at him, the tears still falling. 'Mac, talk to me. What's wrong?' he asked again, putting his hand on her cheek. That was enough for her; she fell forward into his arms, a few stray tears falling onto his shirt. He held her close, rocking her gently, whispering soothing words into her ear until she'd composed herself enough to pull herself away.

'Please, tell me what's wrong,' he said, his voice urgent.

She knew she couldn't tell him what was wrong. She couldn't even think the words, let alone say them aloud. So she took his hand and led him to the bathroom, where she hadn't bothered to retrieve the test from where it lay in the sink.

She watched his reaction as he looked around sink. At first he was confused. 'Mac, what is going on?'

And then he saw it.

His head shot around to face her, his face white. She just stood there in her pyjamas, biting her lip and fiddling with the ring on her hand.

'Is this…' he started, pointing to the test, but stopped. 'You're…' He tried again. This time she nodded slowly, pressing herself into the wall, and yet craving his warm, safe arms around her.

'Fuck,' he said quietly, his wide eyes not leaving hers, his mouth hanging open in surprise. He stood there, just staring at her. Eventually his eyes drifted down to her stomach, and back up to her face.

She didn't move. She couldn't.

He took a step towards her. 'This isn't a joke, is it?' he asked quietly, the tone of his voice telling her he knew very well it wasn't a joke. She shook her head anyway.

He swallowed. 'Fuck,' he said, looking back down at the test in the sink. He turned back to look at her again, the beginnings of a smile on his face.

'We're going to have…' he trailed off. She nodded. She was strangely comforted by the fact that he couldn't use the words either.

'I guess it explains a lot,' she said tentatively, as she watched him do exactly what she had done just hours earlier and slide down the wall to sit on the floor. He looked up at her and put his arm out, and she slowly sat down next to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

They sat there for a while, neither saying anything, just allowing the news to sink in.

'I'm…we're…_fuck_, Mac,' he eventually said.

'Well, yes, that would be how we got here,' she replied, starting to feel more like herself again, her confidence returning now she was safely wrapped in his arms. Now that he knew too, and she wasn't dealing with this alone.

He looked down at her, an incredulous smile on his face. 'I…I don't know what to do or say right now,' he admitted. 'But I think I'm happy about this.'

Relief washed over her as she smiled tentatively back at him. 'I don't know what you should say or do either, and I'm not sure how I feel about this right now, but as soon as I know, you'll be the first person I tell,' she replied. He pulled her to him, kissing her hair.

'It's going to be ok,' he whispered. 'I think we can do this.'

'I hope so.'

* * *

_Not 100% I nailed it, but I guess that's for you to decide. Any and all feedback is very much appreciated!_


	6. Chapter 6

When they eventually made it off the floor – Will's back had begun to hurt, and the floor wasn't really that comfortable anyway – they'd moved to the couch, Mac lying on Will as he stroked her back. Neither of them had said much, both lost in their own little worlds.

'How did we _not_ figure it out?' Will asked. Mackenzie glanced up at him and smiled at the expression on his face.

'I don't know,' she said, shaking her head slowly. 'I guess that's mostly my fault.'

'Well, it's not like the signs weren't there for the world to see. I didn't guess, and I'm married to you.'

'No one did.' She snorted. 'An entire newsroom of some of the best young journalists in the country and no one figured it out.'

'We'll have to fire them all,' Will replied, smiling a little.

'Nah. Just give them an official warning to pick up their game.' They sat in silence for a few moments before Will let out a sigh.

'Charlie…' Will said slowly, and Mac giggled.

'He's going to literally jump for joy,' he moaned.

'He's going to be insufferable,' she said, but she didn't mind. She was secretly excited to tell him; the look on his face would make it all worth it. Well, maybe. Almost.

'We're...you're…what…' he trailed off, no idea how to put his question into words. She sat up slightly, frowning slightly at his incapacity to form a sentence.

'I know you don't know if you're happy about this, and that's completely fine,' he said, hurrying to reassure her. 'But I need to know what you're thinking about…' He trailed off again, looking up at the ceiling. 'I know we're not exactly an advertisement for perfect parenting – hell, I'm on the wrong side of fifty – but I think we can do this and I guess I need to know if you're considering anything else,' he said in a rush. She narrowed her eyes for a second, processing what he'd said, before the realisation hit her.

'Oh.'

'I know it's your body and it is and if that's what you want then that's fine. I just…well, I guess I hope you'd talk to me about any…decisions you make,' he said, mumbling the last few words.

'Oh, Will,' she said, lying back down to hug him tightly, before sitting up again and looking him squarely in the eyes. 'We did this together,' she said firmly, pointing at her stomach. 'And we'll deal with it together.' She faltered for a second. 'I think I may have already made a decision anyway.'

Will's eyes widened.

'I won't get another chance at this – we won't get another chance at this – and I know I'm probably too old to even be considering something this crazy but I guess I don't really have a choice now. And I don't know, but doing anything other than keeping this hadn't actually crossed my mind and to be perfectly honest, I don't want to think about any other options!' She stopped, letting out a sigh and biting her lip. She looked down at Will, the small smile on his face melting her heart.

'I was kinda hoping you'd say that,' he said, pulling her back down to him and kissing her hair.

'Good. Cause you're stuck with me.'

'A situation I'm more than pleased about.'

'So…when…does it all happen?' Will asked after a few minutes, frowning. Neither of them had yet used the magic word, or anything like it, not game enough to say it out loud. It was safe for now as the unnamed…issue? Occurrence? Phenomenon? Thing?

'I don't know. Those test things don't exactly give you dates.'

'We could work it out, though, couldn't we?'

Mackenzie sat up and looked at him, an incredulous grin on her face. 'And how do you plan on doing that? Because I don't think trying to lock down when we've had sex is quite going to work.'

He smirked back at her. 'I am perfectly aware – and completely satisfied – with the problems of that logic,' he said matter-of-factly, and she laughed. 'I was thinking about when you started getting sick. Cause that's what it was, wasn't it?'

She frowned, thinking. 'Yes, I suppose so…' She trailed off, trying to remember dates.

'The vomiting thing was ages ago,' Will said. 'Weeks.'

'First week in October,' she said triumphantly. 'But I'd been feeling off before then. Maybe the middle of September? Maybe a little earlier. I don't know if you automatically get sick straight away.' She made a mental note to do some research into morning sickness. And how long it lasted. And… she knew she had to stop thinking about it. What she knew about…this…wouldn't fill a page in her notebook. She had some serious reading and research to do, and the thought overwhelmed her. She pushed it away and focused back on Will.

'So that would make it June sometime,' Will muttered, his mind working. 'You'd have to stop before then, though,' he mumbled. 'Maybe April?'

'Stop? Stop what? Stop working?' she said, her voice slightly raised. Will moved his hand down her back, but it was too late. She'd already begun pushing herself up so she could see his face.

'Mac-'

'And do what? Play housewife?' she cried.

'You're not going to want to be on your feet all day-'

'So I'm just supposed to sit around here all day, cooking and cleaning and playing wife?'

Will raised his eyebrows. 'You don't cook and you don't clean. And I'm concerned you think you would be 'playing' wife because last time I checked you signed the paperwork that made you an _actual_ wife and being pregnant isn't going to change that!'

She stared at him for a few seconds.

He said the first word. _Pregnant_.

'I'm pregnant,' she whispered, staring at him, his own eyes suddenly reflecting her shock as the realisation dawned on him too.

'You're pregnant,' he said, the awe in his voice unmistakable. 'My wife is pregnant.'

She swallowed as his eyes widened.

'Mac, we're going to have a baby,' he whispered. 'A kid.'

She nodded dumbly, as the waves of realisation crashed over her. _She was having a baby_.

* * *

_Ahh, fluff._

_Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated._


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